Oh, My, My, My
by Bunny1
Summary: Tag to the episode 'Kiss me, Teach', in which Joanie was sexually assaulted. Joanie and Chachi share a moment, come to some realizations, and Howard and Fonzie realize that the two 'babies' of the group aren't babies anymore...


~She said, I was seven and you were nine  
I looked at you like the stars that shined  
In the sky, the pretty lights  
And our daddies used to joke about the two of us  
Growing up and falling in love and our mamas smiled  
And rolled their eyes and said oh my my my~

Joanie Cunningham sat down in her room- the same room that had been hers since high-school. Silly, she'd _wanted_ to move back home, hadn't she? _Why_had she, though, when she and Chachi were so happy in Chicago? At the moment, Joanie couldn't remember. Maybe it was fear, allowing her to let herself become a little girl again, living home under Mommy and Daddy's rule. She was over 20- 21 in a month- and she didn't have a good reason in her head other than being a quitter. She'd given up on singing- which she loved- to be a teacher, which she wasn't that good at.

After today... she just couldn't fathom it. Her head dropped into her hands and she began sobbing uncontrollably. She could still feel those hands on her, the cold chalkboard against her back as he pinned her there. Strong hands squeezing her breasts, a knee trying to force her legs apart... Suddenly she started as she felt very real hands on her shoulders, but they held her in place when she tried to get up, her breathing panicked.

"Shhh, easy there, Blue Eyes... just me. I'm sorry..."

"Oh, Chachi..." Joanie breathed, turning and throwing herself into his arms.

Chachi gathered her close, burying his face into her hair.

~Take me back to the house in the backyard tree  
Said you'd beat me up, you were bigger than me  
You never did, you never did  
Take me back when our world was one block wide  
I dared you to kiss me and ran when you tried  
Just two kids, you and I...  
Oh my my my my~

Chachi wasn't sure how long he held her until her quaking subsided, rubbing her back gently, but when she looked at him, with those tear-filled eyes, it almost broke his heart, and his brown eyes became a little wet themselves.

"You all right?" he managed finally.

Joanie nodded, giving him a small smile.

"There we go..." he encouraged, smiling a little himself, his arms still tight around her.

"I'm so sorry, Chach... I ruin everything."

Chachi looked stunned. "You? No... What are you talking about?"

Joanie got up and began pacing, her fingers absently twiddling her hair.

"I wrecked my hair." she said petulantly. "Stupid frizz..." she mumbled. "I wrecked _us._ You were going to marry me, and I threw you aside- I threw aside the happy life we had in Chicago. _Why_?" she demanded of him.

"Because _you_ weren't happy?" Chachi offered. "Because you wanted something more, maybe it was for me to grow up a little?"

Joanie bit her lower lip, looking away.

"Joanie, it doesn't matter... but you can't just want me 'cause you're scared and I make you feel safe."

Joanie looked at him, hurt visible across her features.

"Oh, no, no... I didn't mean it like that, Blue Eyes..." he said quickly, gathering her into his arms again. "I am always, _always_ gonna be there for you if you need me, and I would lay my life down for you to make you safe, okay?"

~Well, I was sixteen when suddenly  
I wasn't that little girl you used to see  
But your eyes still shined like pretty lights  
And our daddies used to joke about the two of us  
They never believed we'd really fall in love  
And our mamas smiled and rolled their eyes  
And said oh my my my...~

Joanie sniffled. "I love you."

"I know. I love you too." Chachi said with a gentle smile, brushing her bangs gently from her face. "I have since the moment I laid eyes on you. I just... if you want to be with me, do it 'cause you _want_ to, not because you think it's some kind of safety net waiting for you."

Joanie's eyes welled up. "That's how I've treated you, isn't it? It's so wrong..." she sobbed, throwing herself back onto his chest.

Chachi sighed, rubbing her back gently. "Shhh..."

And, suddenly, her blue eyes were staring into his brown ones, and they melded together in a deep, passionate, kiss...

~Take me back to the creek beds we turned up  
Two A.M. riding in your truck and all I need is you next to me  
Take me back to the time we had our very first fight  
The slamming of doors instead of kissing goodnight  
You stayed outside till the morning light  
Oh my my my my~

The next morning, around five a.m., Chachi found himself outside of Fonzie's apartment. It would have been more convenient if he had still lived with the Cs, but, he was probably right that it was time for them all to grow up...

Fonzie answered the door in striped boxers and a leather jacket- with no shirt on. Chachi smirked, walking past him. Fonzie rolled his sleep-filled eyes in his head and looked at his little cousin.

"You should really have a good reason for wakin' me before Mr. Sunshine is up, kid." he said in a sleepy, gravelly voice.

"I just left Joanie." Chachi blurted, sitting down.

Fonzie's eyes went wide. Oh, yes, he was awake now.

"I was worried about her, so I went to check her."

"In the middle of the night?" Fonzie asked him incredulously.

"No... yesterday afternoon. I just never left. She was really upset, and scared. So I stayed for a while. We talked a lot, I comforted her best I could. I fell asleep on that stupid huge stuffed Unicorn she keeps next to her bed." he admitted. "I thought I should skip out before Mr. or Mrs. C decided to wake her for breakfast."

Fonzie smiled. _Oh, should've known they were innocent..._he thought to himself.

Out loud, though, he said, "Ey, I _gave_ her that 'stupid stuffed Unicorn' for her 11th birthday! He happens to be _very_ cool, and his _name_is Charley-Horse."

Chachi smiled. "Yeah, even when she was living in Chicago she had that thing in her apartment." he told Fonzie. "Right next to the side where her pillow was, just like home. Only Unicorn I've ever seen with a leather jacket and an anchor tattoo on it's butt."

"Customized it myself, just for my Shortcake." he said proudly.

"Well... she was pretty upset yesterday." Chachi sighed. "Thanks for tellin' me what happened. I swear, I'd like to just rip that bastard's head off."

"I took care of him." Fonzie said firmly. "No need for that. Best thing_ you_can do is make Shortcake feel better."

"Oh, well I think I did." Chachi said, suddenly fidgety.

"Yeah, what happened?" Fonzie asked, eying him.

"I made love to her."

~A few years had gone and come around  
We were sitting at our favorite spot in town  
And you looked at me, got down on one knee~

Fonzie's eyes went huge. "Oh, I... I did not hear that. You two don't... _do_that sort of thing..."

Chachi shook his head. "We're nearly 21, Fonz. Not 12 anymore. Why does_ everyone_ think we're still 12?"

"Because ya _are_!" Fonzie blurted a bit desperately. "You're like... you're both like my own, so... that kind of makes it incesty... and that's just _sick._.."

Chachi sighed, his mouth quirking a little. "We love you too, you know." he said softly. "But, we're adults. And in love. And... we're gonna do... stuff. Even Gidget had to grow up eventually."

Fonzie nodded, running a hand through his hair, making it uncharacteristically tousled. "Okay, okay. Just... don't tell me these things, okay? You two could be forty with five kids, and I'd still see you, this little shorty runnin' around my garage, followin' me like a puppy." he said with a smile. "And her... that little hairdo like Snow White, freckles all over her nose, smilin' up at me like the Lone Ranger or somethin'..."

"Hey, you're still like the Lone Ranger to _us_, Fonz. Always. Even if you were 90 and in an old folks home."

Fonzie smiled, putting an arm around him and ruffing his hair. "If I'm 90 and I need assistance, you're hiring me a hot 20 year old nurse, not putting me in a home, got it?"

"Promise." Chachi grinned.

~Take me back to the time when we walked down the aisle  
Our whole town came and our mamas cried  
You said I do and I did too  
Take me home where we met so many years before  
We'll rock our babies on that very front porch  
After all this time, you and I~

When Chachi showed up at the Cunninghams around 8 a.m., Joanie looked different. Her hair seemed pulled tight and smoothed, pulled into two very short pigtails.

"Hey, I didn't know you could get your hair to do that anymore." he said, handing her the flowers in his hand.

Joanie smiled; he'd gotten her daffodils and bluebells, her favorites, and the roots were still on some. Obviously he'd picked them from the neighbor's yard.

"It's, ah... flower shoppe isn't open yet." he said shyly.

Joanie leaned up and kissed him gently. "I love them, and I'm going to get a vase. And, I put something in my hair to make it do that." she said, walking to the kitchen.

"Well, it... looks nice?" Chachi said.

Joanie smiled, walking back into the living room, and slipped her hand into his as she put the vase down on the table.

Marian and Howard came back into the room, and saw the hand holding.

"Aw, isn't that sweet? Howard, didn't I tell you four days ago those two looked on the cusp of getting back together?"

"Mm." Howard grunted. "Yes, Marian."

Joanie looked at Chachi, and he looked at her, and suddenly, he looked at Mr. C, with bravery he usually didn't feel around the man.

"Mr. C... I'd... like to ask your permission to marry your daughter."

Marian smiled, then made a girly squeal and started jumping up and down. "Oh, how wonderful... Oh, and I'll have more grandbabies-"

"Marian! Settle down!" Howard said. "I haven't said yes, yet!"

"Actually, Dad, I'm the one who needs to say yes." Joanie said, a glint in her eye.

Chachi looked at her a bit worriedly.

"And... I say yes. Forever and always, yes."

Chachi grinned wide, pulling her into a kiss, and Marian looked happy and giddy and misty eyed. Howard smiled, shaking his head.

"Well... welcome to the family, son."

~I'll be eighty-seven; you'll be eighty-nine  
I'll still look at you like the stars that shine

In the sky, oh my my my...~


End file.
